Faith is such an integral part of Christianity that it is often referred to as "the Christian faith."

Faith is the subject of sermons, songs and movies and is featured on artwork, decorations and even clothing. But for the Christian who has been bound by sexual sin for years, it can be difficult to really have faith in what the Bible says about freedom. Why? Because their experience seems to contrary to faith. Today, we are going to look at why faith is the victory over sexual addiction.

The fight for freedom from sexual sin is often a long, drawn out battle.

Failures along the way are so common that nearly every one has asked themselves, "Why does it have to be this way? Why doesn’t God snap his fingers and make me holy? Why do I have to go through the pain of trying and failing numerous times before I finally start to achieve victory? How do I respond if I fall back into sin?"

These are all common questions, and ones we will address on this episode of Purity for Life!

No sincere Christian parent wants to discover that their child is viewing porn. Unfortunately, the ever-increasing sexualization of the youth is making this more of a reality. Navigating through this issue to a good resolution may seem daunting or even impossible. Do not fear! With God, all things are possible! Pure Life Ministries has seen the Lord’s transforming power for decades. Pornography cannot stand when the Lord is at the center of the fight.

What would you say if we told you that this is a blessing in disguise? You’d probably say we're crazy. But laying aside your worries and having clear mindedness will help you see that God is granting you and your child a pivotal opportunity to learn some valuable and foundational aspects to living the Christian life as we confront the culture.

In this episode of Ask the Counselor, Josh Bergstrom discusses how Christian parents can respond to this weighty matter using Biblical principles. You will be able to guide your child with confidence as you work your way through to the end knowing that the Lord is with you as you follow His design and purpose.

One of the greatest dangers to Christians in modern America is worldliness. And yet, in this day and age, if a sincere pastor declares that God requires His people to live holy and separated lives, his words are often dismissed as legalistic, or worse, as an attack on the grace of God.

But the Word of God tells us that if we are a friend of the world, we make ourselves enemies of God. The biblical call to holiness must not be dismissed, but properly understood and then lived out.

All right, I get the pleasure of talking about the second temptation out of Matthew 4 verses 5 through 7. By way of introduction, something you'll see if you look at the word temptation throughout Scripture, you'll find that it's a Greek word that is variously translated. Sometimes it's the word temptation or tempt but it also gets translated in some versions of scripture as testing or trial. It's the same word behind it. It's kind of interesting don't you think that our temptations on the one hand are temptations and on the other hand they’re trials. I think that is exactly the way we need to see them in reality. It's like 2 sides of the same coin. There is that devilish side—I like to think of it as the tails side on my coin—where he's making his appeal always to your lower nature, the worst part of you. And he’s hoping that he can con you into falling, into failing, into rebelling against God in some measure. Ultimately, gratifying yourself at God's expense in some manner. But, on the other side of that coin God is there. God is in that situation with you and he's making his appeal to a higher nature: the divine nature that he has put in you. His desire of course, is that you endure that temptation, that you withstand that temptation. Because, the fruits, the spoils of that victory is character. It's the character of Christ that he's after. There's no shortcut to that. And, that's one of the reasons why temptations/tests/trials have to come into our life. They have a divine purpose that you can't overlook. I would just suggest that it will help us at times, in the midst of the situation when we feel it as an overwhelming temptation, just remember there's another side to this coin. God’s here with me trying to give me some character out of this.

So let's look at Matthew 4 beginning in verse 5 and pick up the account here:  

Then the devil took him [Jesus] up into the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for it is written ‘He shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone’” but Jesus said to him, “it is written again [or also] ‘you shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

So, it's interesting when I see this.  In my Bible I have it underlined that the devil took him up to throw him down. That's kind of interesting isn't it? It tells you something about your adversary, that's just the kind of guy he is. He takes you up but it's always to throw you down.

Along with that, there is a lot you could say about the devil. I don't want to get off on a tangent on that but there is that devilish aspect in every temptation that you're dealing with. Notice in this passage, it really stands out to me how brazen he really is. He has no fear walking up to the Son of God and holding a conversation with him. He has no fear of taking him into the holy city as it's termed here in this passage. He has no qualms even about taking him to the temple in the holy city, the holiest place of the Holy City if you could say it that way. We need to keep that in mind sometimes. Don't think that you're going to get to the place where you're in this holy place where you won't be tempted.

I mean I really thought that when I came here as a student--maybe not so much consciously--but I remember being frustrated that here I am months into this program and I'm still tempted by lust. And a very wise person just pointed out to me, "Well, did you think you would get past where Jesus got? Did you think that you would arrive in a place where you wouldn't be tempted anymore?" And, well yeah, I think maybe I did. But I was wrong, OK. So this let that be a lesson to us. Also, you notice it doesn't really matter where you are. I hear guys talk about it sometimes and I've experienced it myself, coming into this chapel on what we consider a holy hill Kentucky. Here is our sanctuary, our holiest place and there are guys who have struggled with lustful, or filthy thoughts anyway, right here in this room. Because that's the way the devil works. He's not deterred by any of those things. The only boundaries he observes as I read it out of the Book of Job, are the boundaries God puts on him.

So then, we see that he's taken Jesus up into this holy location, and what does he do with him there? He quotes Scripture to him! Isn't that an amazing thing? He quotes Scripture. In the 1st temptation Jesus defeated him, how? By quoting a very resourceful passage of Scripture that applied right to the specific situation he was dealing with. I've had conversations with guys at times and and I've asked them, "What verses do you use to battle your lustful temptations?" and you'll be amazed at the answers I get. I suggest that you make sure that you've picked a verse that applies to the temptation you're dealing with. That's what's meant to be conveyed here in these 3 accounts as well, that we need to choose the right weapon when we go at the enemy back with Scripture. So, he comes at Jesus with scripture and really he's essentially saying, "Look that worked for you and you won that round. So, let me try scripture and see what happens." And he comes out and says, "If you are the Son of God throw yourself down, for it is written 'He shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" Right out of Psalm 91 verses 11&12. He left out one little phrase, but even the commentators generally agree that it's really insignificant. He did accurately quote this passage. That was kind of surprising to me the first time I looked that up. I remember years ago looking it up and thinking "I wonder what he distorted here. I wonder what he left out or somehow misquoted scripture." And, I was stunned in a way to discover that he actually quotes it rather accurately and he certainly conveyed the meaning of that passage accurately. But, there is a devilish twist in all of this, I guess I should point that out, because he didn't misquote it but he certainly is misapplying it. And that's just as bad and something we have to take note of for ourselves. And again, even within the last couple of weeks I've talked to guys who are doing this exact same thing; going around in circles over certain passages of Scripture that they're misapplying and totally refusing to acknowledge that the Word of God says a lot more than just this one little narrow chunk that they're stuck on. So let that be a lesson to some of us.  

"If you are the Son of God" he says to him. The passage immediately preceding this encounter with temptation in the wilderness was his baptism. Where the heavens opened, and what did God say? "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Right? "This is my beloved son." The first words out of Satan's mouth, even on that 1st temptation: "If you are the Son of God." You see how he comes against the very nuggets of truth that God gives you? That's what he attacks. As soon as you receive it, he's after it. He contends against every bit of truth that God's trying to give you and tries to get you to doubt it or to let go of it.  

But, Jesus' response here is also very instructive. He knows the heart of God very well. That's kind of where I was going earlier when I was talking about misapplying the Word of God. It is true, we have to know the Word of God, and you have to know all of the Word of God. But, I want to say to you that it's even more than that. We have to know the heart of God. That's the real antidote for keeping us from misapplying scripture, when we know the heart of God. And that's one of the reasons why we have those mercy studies classes every Sunday night with you guys, because you have to know that God's will is mercy. You have to know his heart. You have to know God's character in a very full and rich way, because that's your real antidote for these kinds of things.  

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So, Jesus knows the heart of God very well and he has no problem recognizing that this temptation, even though it's based on Scripture, is a twisted, deformed appeal to pride. And he doesn't fall for it. He says "It is written again [or it's also written] you shall not tempt the Lord your God." I want to take a couple minutes and talk about this now from a biblical counseling perspective where we talk a lot about putting off and putting on. So, there's some putting off that needs to happen here and it's pretty clear. "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." The thing you need to put off is tempting God. Satan's appeal here is trying to get Jesus to accept this counterfeit of faith, this presumption. He's trying to push him over into presumption instead of faith in the Word of God, to use it as a reckless license instead of actually living on it as word of truth and faith. And, we have been guilty of using God's promises as licenses  to sin or or excuses for reckless sinful behaviors. I can remember driving to an adulterous relationship appointment and asking God to keep me safe while I'm driving the car, because it was a real fear of mine that that's how I would get exposed somehow.  

I just say that because that's the kind of thing that Satan was after here, to try and get us to to act presumptuously on the Word of God. Perhaps in your life it's more like asking him to bless your finances while you're freely spending on pornography. Or, asking God to give you a wife, or to restore your marriage if you were married, but all the while you're consuming everything He's giving you on your self life. Why would he give you one of his daughters in that circumstance? But that's the kind of thing we're like, "but God, your word says you won't withhold any good thing from us and He who finds a wife finds a good thing." I mean, I've heard all the arguments and they get trumped up and played in bold letters sometimes.  But when you're still consumed with self, why would he do any of those things?  

In the pulpit commentary about this verse it says:  

In this refusal of Christ are implicitly condemned all who run before they are sent, who thrust themselves into perils to which they are not called, all who would fain be reformers but whom God has not raised up and equipped for the work of reformation, and who therefore for the most part bring themselves and their cause together to shame, dishonor, and defeat with all those who presumptuously draw drafts on the faithfulness of God [write a check on the faithfulness of God] with no Scriptural warrant to justify them in believing that he will honor it.  

There's something even deeper I want to get at here. Because if we let Scripture interpret scripture, Jesus's reply came out of Deuteronomy 6:16. And if you look at that verse it's actually a reference back even further to Exodus chapter 17. This is what it means really Scripturally to tempt the Lord. It says out of Exodus,  

Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.”  

So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?”  

And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”  

You hear their attitude loud and clear right?  

So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”  

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”  

And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel  So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”  

It's that phrase that I was after, "Is the Lord among us or not?" because I feel like that question is in our hearts more than we recognize. It may not have that exact wording to it but it's the question: "Is the Lord really here this morning in the service? Is the Lord really here at Pure Life Ministries? Is His power really here to set me free from addiction? Or, is he really able to help me in my daily battles with temptation? Is he really here? Is the Lord really in this place?" Think about the things that make you angry or anxious and you've probably often found yourself saying some version of "Is the Lord really in this? Is the Lord really in these difficult situations?". We have enough trouble sometimes convincing you that he's really in the job we sent you to, or the roommate we assigned you to. Could the lack of finances be the hand of God? You know that's another way this question gets asked in our hearts. "Does God really want me to suffer like this?"

And if we took it outside of the ministry, I think the most common version of that question that is being asked by professing Christians today is, "Is the Lord in this marriage?". You see the tempting of the Lord that's going on in our hearts when we say things like that now?

We're just like those Israelites. We're quick to murmur, quick to complain. And, even if we're willing to give God credit for the blessings in our life, we're still quick to think that he has nothing to do with the difficulties or the hardships or the testings or the trials of my life. You've got to get past that. There needs to be that putting on then. So you put off those kinds of questions, and what you need to put on in their place is some faith that God is in these things, that this is the hand of God. That's really the secret to biting your tongue instead of complaining, recognizing the hand of God in the situation, acknowledging the hand of God in it, knowing in your heart that everything that's happening in your life, in your circumstances has passed through his hands. I can tell you, I was telling someone this just earlier this week. I have literally been, you know I have a little chair where I do my prayer time in the mornings, and I have literally been writhing in that chair with tears running down my face in just complete turmoil and anguish inside. But, what brings me through days like that is that awareness that, "God you're in this." That's what I end up telling God, "This is you. You're doing this. You're in this. You meant for this. You saw all this. You planned this. You're allowing this for a good purpose in my life. And, I don't want to miss that just because I'm being a crybaby right now." You have to say things like that to Him. God is with us, that's one of his names, Emmanuel-God with us. He really is with us. Especially when you think he's not. And he's not merely with us, but he understands everything we're going through. He was tested and tempted in all points like we are, so that he could be our help in our time of need. Remember then, that that testing is to produce his character in you.  

I just want to close with the thought that this episode that I'm talking about here didn't end right here at the end of verse 7. I believe that this ends in Revelation 12:10. "Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 'Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.'" Amen. Who is it that's going to get cast down? Not Jesus, Satan. His own words are going to come back on him. Praise God for that.  

In early 2011, I did something that I vowed I would never have to do again. I found myself filling out an application to enter a residential program for Christians in bondage. The first time I had completed a similar application was in 2002, as I took the necessary steps to enter a Teen Challenge facility in Florida. I was eighteen years old, completely given over to drugs and sexual sin, and spiritually lost. The Lord used that program in a remarkable way to open my eyes to the Gospel, and to bring me to repentance and belief in Christ. At that time, I could never have imagined that I would be entering another program as a resident nine years later. I had thought I was ready to enjoy my new life in Christ and make an impact on the world.  

Contrary to my expectations, things did not turn out the way I had originally intended. Instead of taking the world for Jesus, I re-opened the door to sexual sin, and began a slow fade away from my first love in Christ. This brought me to a point of desperation, which is why I was writing my name, address and other pertinent information on an application for Pure Life Ministries, hoping that I would be accepted into their Residential Program.  

As I filled out the application, I found it interesting that they wanted to know details about my devotional life. They inquired about my prayer life and how much time I spent with the Lord. They were interested in how often I read the Scriptures. As I wrote my answers, I could not see the correlation between my prayer life with the Lord and the addiction that had caused me to come to a place where I was willing to submit my life to another program. “I just need help with this addiction in my life. I need to get free from porn. Why are they asking all of these questions about my spiritual life?”  

I probably breezed through that section, filling it out as quickly as possible. I am certain that I gave the impression that things were fine between me and God. If Pure Life Ministries wanted to dig into my issue, they should be asking more about my painful experiences as a child. They should be paying attention to the fact that I was exposed to pornography at age seven. But asking me about how much I prayed and read the Bible seemed completely irrelevant to my situation. I spent some time in prayer and still read the Bible. Sure, it was not as rich an experience as it had been early on in my relationship with the Lord, but it was not completely gone. That was my attitude as I finalized the application, sent it to the ministry and soon arrived at 95 Narrow Way in Dry Ridge, Kentucky.  

However, on the other side of the amazing work of repentance that the Lord did in my life during my time at Pure Life Ministries Residential Program, my perspective is dramatically different. Now I can see that there is a direct correlation between the quality of one’s prayer life and true freedom from sexual sin. You see, before finally submitting myself to the program, I had tried many avenues to get free. I had confessed to my wife and leadership around me. I had gone to a Christian psychologist to dig through my broken past. I had been diagnosed and medicated for mental illness. I had attended twelve-step program meetings. I had shed tears of sorrow. I had made several attempts to “fix” my problem… but none of them required true repentance.  

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Essentially—without realizing it—I was trying to treat the symptoms without dealing with the root issue. I was looking for someone else to blame for the mess I had created. I was hoping that a program or a pill was going to cure me. But I see now that the very root of my condition was my sin. And sin is a spiritual issue. Until I was willing to truly repent and get my heart right with the Lord, I was spinning my wheels. And one clear indicator about a person’s relationship with God is his or her prayer life.  

True prayer is the intimate communication that believers enjoy with the Lord. When we allow sin into our lives, it will affect the quality of our prayer lives. Just like Adam and Eve immediately hid from the Lord after giving into their sin (Gen 3:8), the same happens to us when we live in unrepentant sin. We may still go through the motions of prayer. Most of us who profess Christ know enough words and formulas to go through the act of praying whether it comes from the heart or not. But the true joy and connection with the Lord fades when we allow sin into our lives. This is why Pure Life’s application included questions about the quality of my life in God. Because they understand the clear connection between purity and prayer.  

Ironically, when I am counseling people today who are in similar circumstances to where I was when I applied to Pure Life Ministries, some of my first questions are, “What is your relationship with God like? How often do you pray? What is the quality of your devotional life?” Of course, someone can read the Bible and spend time in prayer and not automatically find freedom. But the quality of one’s prayer life serves as a great indicator of a person’s relationship with God. And when people are able to see that their sin is affecting their relationship with the Lord, then they are able to deal with the root of the issue and begin the painful but beautiful process of repentance.  

If sexual sin has stolen the intimacy from your prayer life, here are a few practical steps you can take today to move toward restoration:  

1. Get totally honest with yourself.
   Evaluate your prayer life and determine its true quality. Is the passion of your heart to seek the Lord or are you going through the motions? Can you honestly say that you are truly in love with Jesus?
   
2. Go to the Lord in open honesty and confess your sin.
   Insist on having true communication with Him. Tell him about what you are experiencing. Cry out to Him for help. And obey whatever He leads you to do.
   
3. Take steps of repentance.
   Expose your sin to a spiritual leader in your life. Confess to those around you whom your sin has impacted. Put boundaries around yourself and close every door to your sin.
   
4. Set aside some time every day to speak to God one-on-one.
   Be adamant to keep this time from becoming a religious exercise. Instead, pour your heart out to the Lord and ask Him to help reignite the fire of your relationship with Him. He wants to help you. He promises if you seek Him, He will be found by you. (Jeremiah 29:13)
   
5. Seek further help if needed.
   Some people, like me, need more help to get free. For those people, Pure Life Ministries offers both a Residential Program for men and an over-the-phone program for men or women. Give them a call today at 800-PURE-LIFE and share your situation and ask what they would recommend. I made that call nine years ago, and I have never regretted my decision to fill out that application, enter the program and have a powerful encounter with the God who is able to set the captive free.

How many times have you promised yourself, “I will never do that again!” but soon found that you were doing it all over again? If that cycle continues long enough, you may start believing that you cannot possibly stand against these powerful temptations.

That’s what Steve Gallagher used to think, until he learned how to win the battle against temptation.

In this episode we continue to share with you the truths found in our YouTube Series, “20 Truths that Helped Me in My Battle with Porn Addiction.” Today’s topic? “Temptation is a Winnable Battle.”

None of us would ever dream of only eating once a week, once a month, once every 6 months. If this is true, why do so many Christians only eat from God’s word every so often?

In this segment from our archives, Mike Johnston and Jeff Colon discuss why a vibrant walk with God requires daily time in the Word as well as how to establish that time in the morning when everything in us just wants to go back to bed.

Mike: Jeff, we want to continue on in our series talking about redeeming the time. In today's program we want to talk about redeeming our time in the sense of spending time in God's word. Why do you think that is so important especially in the day and age that we live in?  

Jeff: Well Mike, I think we don't realize the atmosphere of this world and how intoxicating it can be to our spiritual eyes. And, we don't realize how much this society we're living in today can deaden our spiritual lives and our need for spiritual sustenance in our lives.  

Mike: Talk a little about that, the need for spiritual sustenance. I know that so many people in the church, and certainly it was an aspect of my life before coming to Pure Life Ministries, that I just go to church on Sunday or maybe on Wednesday, and then the rest of the time I just live my life. Why is it so critical? Why do we need spiritual sustenance?  

Jeff: Well Mike, I believe like it says in that scripture in Ephesians 5, that we need to have a walk that is circumspect. In other words, we need to be aware, we need to be alert. Jesus many times exhorts us to be sober and that verse basically tells us one way to do that is to redeem our time because the days are evil. It's just imperative Mike that we need to realize that our time is valuable. We can't just squander it away because once it's gone we can't gain it. And, I believe one key feature in redeeming our time is really getting into the Word of God.  

Mike: You mentioned that the days are evil. Certainly it is true that everywhere we look—of course, we're dealing with men coming out of sexual sin here in our Residential Program—we are just bombarded with the messages of the enemy who is out to destroy our souls, and, even if we are a believer, to destroy the testimony we have for God and the intimacy that God wants to have with us.  

Jeff: That really is so true Mike. And, as Christians we're called to have the mind of Christ or, if I can say this way, think Biblically. We don't realize how much the message of this world in so many different ways that it comes to us through media, t.v., magazines, and just being out in this world, really does affect our thinking and our perspectives on life and how much we need the Word of God. We've counseled so many people who have come to our programs, and what you come to see is that many Christians, many people who would call themselves believers really don't look at life through the lens of Scripture. A lot of times they're seeing it how the world perceives things and that's why their lives are not where they need to be in the Lord. We need God's perspectives, we need the word as a lamp, a light unto our path as we go through our lives in this world.

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Mike: You know, even the men who go through our Residential Program, those who struggle after they leave the program almost inevitably—if you ask him what changed after they left the program—will tell you, “Well I got busy and I stopped spending time in the Word of God. I stopped my prayer time.” That’s where you really see, even in a man where something tremendous happened in his heart while he was here, that without that we’re just left to the whims of whatever is blowing around us.  

Jeff: It's so true Mike, and I many times use David as an example. Here's a man that walked with God but we know what happened. But, at one time in David's life before he fell with Bathsheba, he understood the need for God. In Psalm 63 verse 1 he says, “God you're my God. Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” And that verse to me really depicts a Christian's journey through life. When we're here on earth we're kind of like sojourners passing through, but it's a barren wasteland. There's nothing in this world that's going to feed our soul spiritually. We really need to learn that only God can give us what we need and there's nothing in this world that's going to create a vibrant walk with God. So, we need to understand our need to be seeking God early and getting in his word and finding our nourishment from him.  

Mike: All right, now you just laid out one of the first stumbling blocks for guys. Seek the Lord early. You know, the truth is Jeff, that—and we all have these days—I have days when I get up and I just want to roll over and go back to bed, go back to sleep. We have a dear saint that comes to Pure Life Ministries and I like the way he says, “there are days when you just have to pick yourself up by the scruff of you neck and drag yourself into the Word of God.” Talk a little bit to those who maybe don't sense this hunger that you're talking about for the Word of God. What do you do when you don't have that hunger?  

Jeff: Well first of all, I would encourage them to let God make them hungry. Yes, that's what I said, allow God to make you hungry. In other words, it means I have a decision to make. God will establish a hunger in our lives, but what I have found for myself is that if I'm not reading the word, I'm not going to be hungry for it. But, when I get in the word, just like when I went in the program myself and was required to read the Bible, what I found that after doing that for a while was it started creating a hunger in my life. And, I would encourage anyone out there that if you don't have that hunger get in the Bible, get over Psalm 119. I've used that Psalm many times when I have felt that hunger waning in my life and there are wonderful prayers in there that we can pray to the Lord, even though maybe they're not a reality in our own lives, we could pray through that Psalm. It takes about 20 minutes to pray through that Psalm and you could do that every day and I guarantee you, if you do that God will begin to create a hunger in your heart for His word.  

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Mike: Yeah that is so true. That is my testimony I know. Sometimes when we think about the Lord meeting our needs we think of, well, I have a need for a job, or, I have a need for healing or whatever it may be. But, what I have learned in recent years is that even the things that God is calling us to do, if we don't have it in us—and back in our flesh we don't have it in us—if we will ask him to give us that desire he is faithful to do that.  

Jeff: Absolutely. He says if we ask anything according to His Will it's done, and I believe it's God's will that we read His Word and actually Paul admonishes us to allow the word of Christ to dwell richly in us in all wisdom. So, if God is telling us to do that, we're asking him to give us a hunger for that, well, he's going to do it.  

Mike: Yes, that's his heart and he wants to meet our needs. Let's just finish up on this: you just mentioned that verse, Colossians 3:16, “to allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly.” What I hear from that Scripture is that, yes we need to be in the Word of God, we need to be reading the Word of God and allowing the Word of God to get into us, but the other half of that is we need to be living out and walking out what God is showing us in His word.  

Jeff: Absolutely when that says “in all wisdom” to me again wisdom depicts a perspective in life. In other words, it means I govern and I live my life according to the perspectives of God's word.  

Mike: Amen. Well Jeff we appreciate your time and thanks so much for talking to us again about redeeming the time.  

Jeff: Thanks Mike.  

For the man struggling to be free from sexual sin, the world around us is a difficult place to be. Billboards, television, magazines and the internet barrage us with images that draw the eye and entice the heart. If a man is used to caving into these temptations, how can he find the strength to resist the allure and keep a pure heart and mind?

As we talked about in our last episode, Scripture plays a huge part in this, but there is another vital part to living in freedom. This week, we will look at how time spent in prayer transforms us into the image of Christ and gives us the strength we need—his strength—to resist temptation. To win the Battle of Temptation, You Must Have a Prayer Life.

When a man determines to be free from pornography, one of the things he is immediately confronted with is how much his mind has been polluted by porn’s filthiness.

Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is living and active and full of power...” We here at Pure Life Ministries place a huge emphasis on having a daily, vibrant relationship with the Bible because we have experienced its effect in our own lives and have watched it work wonders in the lives of the men we counsel.

Today we are looking at how Scripture will restructure a pornographic mindset.

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Jim: There are so many influences in the worldly culture of American life that beckon a man toward destruction. They are so much a part of our lives that we often don't see them as dangerous at all, and so we allow these influences full access to our ears, our eyes and our hearts. Michael Wheaton has dealt with these in his own life and now uses his experience and training to warn men in our Overcomers-at-Home Program to rid their lives of the siren's call to destruction.  

I'm joined in the studio today by Michael Wheaton. Michael has served Pure Life Ministries for several years he has been a residential counselor, and currently serves as a counselor for our Overcomers-at-Home Program. Michael, first of all welcome.  

Michael: Thank you, Jim.  

Jim: Thanks for being here with us today. For our listeners who may not know our Residential Program, of course, is our campus here in Kentucky where men come to spend 9 months overcoming their habits of sexual sin. But we have men scattered across the country and in countries around the world who are doing the program at home. And so they still live out in the world, and we have to deal with them when they are surrounded by a godless world culture and have things right in their own homes that they need to be warned about and need to take care of. Michael, you deal with students, and have, who are going through the program at home, and what we want to talk about today is what kind of fences we have to put in place in order to help them protect themselves from their own sinful nature and from the influences of the world. This segment is in the overall context of the 20 truth of that Pastor Steve Gallagher is teaching us and his truth is "don't o near the prostitutes house." Quoting from the scripture in proverbs he is telling us "don't go anywhere near trouble. Stay away from temptation. Put in place whatever you need to stay out of an area of danger for you. So we like to speak to it in terms of "what fences do we need to put in place to keep us from going somewhere that we don't need to go?" Michael let me ask you first of all, just to get us started, "what are the biblical principles that you go by when you recommend that men put these fences in place?  

Michael: Well first of all I'm grateful to be talking about this subject. I believe it's very important especially in the day we're living in. Going out into the world, we're constantly bombarded with the world's message whether it's billboards advertisements on the Internet commercials, you name it, the world's message is right in our face and having fences in our lives is very important to guard us from those temptations from those lures. That being said, as Christians we need to have fences established in our lives. While most of the things we're going to be discussing today like the Internet, YouTube, t.v., social media or even going to the mall, aren't inherently sinful, but the Lord tells us in Proverbs 4:23 "Keep your heart with all diligence for out of that spring the issues of life." Having fences in place helps us to follow this command. I'm also reminded through the prophet Jeremiah where he said, "the heart is the seat full above all things and desperately wicked who can know it" and another translation says it this way "who can understand the human heart there is nothing else so deceitful, it is too sick to be healed." We can't trust ourselves.

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Jim: The problem isn't necessarily a mall, the problem isn't necessarily a television set or a television show, the problem is the human heart. So these are not legalistic rules, these are practical things that we need to have in place to be obedient—to guard our heart and God is telling us this for our own sake.  

Michael: I'm glad you just said that because I remember thinking to myself "if I have all these boundaries or fences in place how am I being led by the Spirit? This seems like legalism." While it's true that boundaries or fences won't deal with the root issue, which you just mentioned is our heart, it's foolish to think we can just skate through life and not take seriously scriptures like Romans 13:14 which clearly tells us to make no provision for the flesh.  

Jim: And so this isn't just the proverbs of the Old Testament this is the Apostle Paul in the New Testament telling Christians don't make plans in advance for sin.  

Michael: Also in Matthew 6:13 Jesus teaches us to pray, "and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." To not have fences in our lives and to be praying in this way seems like tempting the Lord.  

Jim: And Michael one of the other Scriptures that we use a lot here at Pure Life—it is a law of the spirit and it's also a law of nature—whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. As a matter of fact Paul said, "don't be deceived God will not be mocked, whatever a man sows, that will be also reap." He goes on to say that if we sow to the Spirit, we reap from the Spirit—praise God—if we sow to the flesh we reap from the flesh," or "we reap destruction." Having fences in place that protect us from ourselves it becomes so much easier to sow to the Spirit.  

Michael: Yeah absolutely and I'm glad you mentioned that because the reason we need fences in place or part of the reason we need them in place, is because of ourselves. Our heart as we as we talked about earlier is to deceitfully wicked, and these fences help us especially in times of weakness, or in times of temptation, when we feel that propensity to wander or that pull to the things of this world, those fences are safeguards for us and can even act as roadblocks or warning signs when we're in those times of temptation. To not have those in place is to just open the door to yielding our flesh and giving right into the temptation.  

Jim: Alright, let's get right down to business here Pure Life we have a website; we use the Internet. Many people are listening to this podcast because it's posted on the internet, but those of us who have been in sexual sin—and every counselor here is a graduate of the program—the vast majority of us, the tool of the devil that hooked us was the Internet. And it's everywhere, and it seems like most people in today's culture feel like they can't live without it. In the residential program it's just in place, students don't have access to the internet, but for those men and women who are out there in the world, they have a computer in their home they have a smartphone that gives them access to the Internet. As a counselor for students at home, what is your best godly counsel about use of the Internet?  

Michael: To start, if someone's struggling with viewing pornography on the internet, then my first response is to get rid of it. Now some people may think that sounds harsh but in Matthew 5:29 through 30, Jesus said "if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin cut it off and cast it from you for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell." At the end of Matthew 7 in the same sermon Jesus also said "everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it."  

For someone who isn't using the Internet for sin, it's still wise to have some sort of internet filter or accountability software. We recommend to our guys Covenant Eyes; I know there's others out there that I'm not as familiar with. And it's equally important to limit the amount of time spent on it, even if it's just online shopping. Scripture has a lot to say about how we should spend our time what we should listen to, look at and think about. And hopefully we'll touch on some of those things later.  

Jim: Michael, you mentioned that great scripture from Matthew 5 were Jesus talks about plucking out the right eye that causes you to sin or cutting off the right hand that causes you to sin. Jesus does not expect us to walk around maimed and blind, but the point is we need to be radical in cutting out and cutting off the sin that's in our lives. And in regard to the Internet, it may mean, as you said, getting rid of it entirely. All right here is that other great monster that's in everybody's house. Matter of fact, most of us have a room where all of the furniture is pointed toward the television, and today it's not just network television, it's cable with a 1000 channels and it's all these other kinds of services that bring all kinds of programming into our houses. What do you tell somebody about how they should live in relation to their t.v.?  

Michael: I'd like to just start with the fact that today we've become extremely desensitized. People can watch t.v. shows which promote things that God says are an abomination to Him without the slightest conviction and I know this is true because before I came to Pure Life, I professed to be a Christian and yet some of the shows and movies I watched made things like lying, lust or violence seem innocent or comical and this is not just the world's problem... this is Christians, people in the church, some of the movies they're exposing themselves to or some of the shows they're exposing themselves to and it's a very slippery slope. And as far as these things go whether it's Netflix, Hulu, Apple t.v., whatever else is out there now... honestly, addressing each of these things is overwhelming one can hardly go on to the Internet or turn on a t.v. without being exposed to something that's practically pornographic. So, my counsel to men or really anyone who's trying to walk with the Lord is to have nothing to do with these things, just get rid of them.  

Jim: Now, Michael, you actually counsel men to get rid of their television? To get rid of all their subscription services? To do without a t.v. in the house? I grew up on television in front of a television set, I didn't think I would ever live without it and even before I came Pure Life, I was watching television four or 5 hours every night, it's what we did. I Haven't watched network television in 5 years now. The amazing thing is when you make the choice to get rid of this thing that pipes into your home so much that is dishonoring to God and blasphemous to the Lord Jesus, your life gets so much better so quickly—it's not a sacrifice. What's been your experience, as I know you don't watch t.v. either.  

Michael: You know I'm glad you mentioned. One of the biggest blessings since not having t.v. has been the ability to one: just slow down. I just found when I used to constantly sit in front of the t.v. and watch whatever the latest most popular shows were, there was just this constant need to be doing something or having something stimulating or entertaining. I didn't know how to just be still or slow down and that was huge for me, especially coming out of sexual sin. Most of us who have given ourselves over to that have just been living such a fast pace life style with no ability to slow down, just one thing after another and then if there's nothing going on, "well I need to be sitting in front of a t.v. and having something stimulating or something entertaining me." Getting rid of that has been huge. Also, on the other side of that, I know that not everything that is out there is bad, but just seeing more and more the direction these things are headed. You know you turn on the main screen of something like Netflix, or something like that, and all you see are these images that—whether they're pornographic or not—are demonic, violent and those things have a huge impression on your mind. Those images get lodged into your mind and it's hard to break free from those and so you at some point just get to the place where you have to ask the question, "is it worth it?" Is it worth it because that, as we said in our theme verse for this segment, that's going near the door of the prostitute's house.  

Jim: Well let's jump to another one let's talk about social media. At Pure Life, we use social media in order to disseminate our message but the men in the Residential Program, and even the staff are not on social media. A great many men use social media as the avenue for their sin. A great many men started their emotional and then their sexual affair by someone that they met online. What is your counsel to our men in regard to social media?  

Michael: It's amazing to see how much of an impact social media has had on our society over the past decade, and that impact has been devastating in some cases which you just alluded to. The reality we have to face is that our world is growing increasingly dark as we're approaching the return of Jesus Christ. Things that were considered shameful just 50 to 60 years ago are now celebrated, and social media's played an integral part in promoting evil, and has been used by many as a platform for gossiping, backbiting, slander, boasting sexual immorality... the list goes on and on. Of course, there are many who have used social media for good, but the point I'm trying to drive home is that we have to be very careful about what we expose ourselves to and I want to take a little different approach talking about social media. The verse that I'm reminded of is Psalm 1:1-3. "blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law,  he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, in all that he does he prospers."  Whether we like to admit it or not, the things we expose ourselves to influence us more than we realize. Whatever we give that position of influence to in our lives, we're letting counsel us.  

Jim: All right let's go in another direction—it's all related. Movies. Most of us grew up watching movies. We love movies. Is there any particular counsel you give just in regard to movies? And let's just say not only at the movie theater, but movies that you might watch if you keep your television.  

Michael: Yeah well, the nice thing about movies is you can control what you watch. It's very important, especially when it comes to movies, to know what you're watching. And while there are sites out there like kidsinmind.com, and others that you can go to see what kind of content is in a movie, and whether or not you want to be watching it, you have to be extremely careful even going on those sites because some of the content that you're reading is pornographic. Even that is a potential stumbling block for people. However, one of the things I personally like to do when it comes to this area—I still do watch movies—I have searched for movies that are Christian... there are websites out there, Christian movie websites, that just list faith-based movies and family-friendly movies on them, so you kind of avoid having to see all of the secular things that are out there, and running the risk of having to see something that you don't want to see. Now not all faith-based movies are very strong in their biblical message, but I find it very helpful to use some of those sites when finding potential movies that I might want to watch, or looking for biographies of godly men and women who have walked with the Lord and have a testimony of walking with the Lord and experiencing His faithfulness. So those are the sorts of things that I personally try to do when it comes to watching movies and would recommend to others as well.  

Jim: Michael, I have personally seen teenagers play video games that were obviously based on sex and violence. I personally know of men in their thirties and forties who are absolutely addicted to video games that are based on warfare, and these games are full of things that dishonor God and people really do get addicted. They spend hours a day in this fantasy world playing games. What is your best counsel for a man in regard to video games?  

Michael: Well I want to go back to a verse we shared at the beginning from the prophet Jeremiah. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And part of the problem is, as we mentioned earlier, the root really is our hearts. We have an addictive nature, we become addicted to things, for some of us it's video games, for some of us it's movie, some of us it's social media and in this case it's not so much that a video game in and of itself is addictive, but it feeds on our addictive nature or fallen natures. That's why we see so many people becoming addicted to video games in this sort of fantasy world that they can live in, and what I want to kind of saying the other side of that is it's hard to find very many good reasons for playing them if any. And so for a guy who's in sexual sin, or video games are a struggle for them and they're getting into sin that way, again, get rid of them. That's what Jesus' counsel was to us. If this thing is a potential cause of sin for me in my life, then I just need to get rid of it and ask myself what's more important: "is it more important for me to have an intimate relationship with the Lord or continually open the door to giving over to my flesh and causing separation in my relationship with the Lord." To me that's the most important thing as we're addressing any of these things: my relationship with the Lord, and that is what this is about.  

Jim: A simple guideline for me has been, "Could I sit here on social media and engage it in such a way that I'm doing if Jesus was sitting right next to me watching. Would I watch this movie if he was sitting on the couch next to me? Would I play this video game for hours if Jesus was with me watching everything that I did?" The second question, of course, is what makes you think he isn't?  

Michael: I'll just add to that. You know I've heard people say that before, and if we don't have a true understanding of who Jesus is, of his Holiness, of his desire, of his will for our lives, as believers we are to be called out and separated from the world and he calls us to a life of holiness, and that means separation from the world and things of the world. Even things that aren't necessarily bad in and of themselves, I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul when he said, "all things are lawful for me but not all things are profitable." Video games, social media, most of this stuff, if we're honest, is not profitable for us. It's not helping us grow spiritually, it's not helping us grown in our knowledge of who Jesus is, which was Paul's one and aim—and he said that over and over again—just to know Jesus Christ. If I'm a believer and my aim in life is to know Jesus Christ; are these things helping me to do that? And that helps me to know if this is really pleasing to the Lord, versus some imagination I have of who Jesus is and that he would approve of some of these things or be rejoicing in these things.  

Jim: OK, here's a hot button for many people, Michael, talk to me about music, contemporary music, the music that you might normally hear on the radio unless your tuned to the Christian radio station. What do you do about secular music?  

Michael: Yeah, well, music is powerful, and it has a tremendous ability to influence us. I remember back in high school I used to listen to rap music all the time, and it just fed that spirit of anger and lust inside of me and the more I listened to it the more I would give myself over that spirit. And even all these years later, having not listened to rap music in over a decade, if I happen to be out whether it's in a store, or hear rap music playing in a car that drives by, I can feel that pull of that spirit. And that old mindset is right there. I can feel it pulling me into that thinking and all of the sudden, these emotions of anger or lust are wanting to rise up just hearing a lyric or two, or a beat, all these years later.  

Jim: All right last one and this one might seem odd to some, but its influence is far more powerful than most people give it credit for, and that is the shopping mall, or any kind of environment that promotes consumerism. Talk to me about that.  

Michael: For me, personally, when I have walked into a mall, there's an atmosphere, and they even know that, so when choosing music that they play in their stores, or the fragrance that's there, it all appeals to our senses, and our carnal nature. It's trying to get us to buy into the lie that things that are temporal, whether it's clothing, the latest gadget, whatever, that is what it's wanting us to value, wanting us to see as important. Just going into a mall, everything is temporal, whether it's the music you're hearing, or the fragrances, you’re smelling, even what people wear in the mall, it's just a worldly environment. I mean there's no other way to say it's just it is a worldly environment.  

Jim: As we closed today, Michael, I'd like you to take us back to the scripture. One of the scriptures that we're constantly sharing with men here at Pure Life, because they've come here to get free from temptation to sexual sin is 1st Corinthians 10:13-14, where Paul says "no temptation has overtaken you but that which is common to man. But God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will always provide a way of escape, so that you can bear up under it. Therefore my beloved, flee from idolatry." Now, talk to me about taking the way of escape; also, how do you make decisions about the things that we've talked about today?  

Michael: Yeah, well, sometimes the way of escape is to not browse the Internet or to not watch that movie or read that book or listen to that music. The answer is not to put ourselves in places of danger, and then to cry out to the Lord to deliver us. Again, that's tempting the Lord, which were commanded not to do. So when deciding what kind of fences need to be established, we need to ask God to help us. And the Holy Spirit, through His word and through personal convictions, will lead us. Here are just some personal questions the Lord's given me to ask myself when determining what fences I need in place. These aren't in any particular order: Is this pleasing to The Lord? Is this edifying? Is this profitable? Is this helpful? How does this affect me spiritually? Does this increase or decrease my hunger for the Lord, his word, and prayer? Is this feeding my flesh or my spirit? Is this drawing me closer to the Lord, or taking me further from Him? Is this contrary to God's Word? The Holy Spirit will never lead us to do anything that goes against his revealed Word. Does this line up with God's word? I have passages referenced here like Romans 12: 1-2, Philippians 4:8, Colossians 3:2. I can't rely on my own understanding, Proverbs 14:12 says "there is a way that seems right to a man, but it's and is the way of death."  

Jim: The way that same right to a man ends in death. The way that God has outlined in his Word, leads to life. I really want to thank you for coming in today, you have given us very practical, very hands-on guidelines on how to protect ourselves from the things of the world, and how to stay away from that prostitute's house, how to stay out of trouble. Thank you so much, Michael.  

Michael: You're welcome Jim, thank you for having me.

Through the written record of His eternal Word and the great display of His love in sending Jesus, God has pronounced His blessings and made a way for us to partake of His divine promises. The story of Esau may seem ridiculous to many Christians, but his giving up his birthright for a bowl of soup is an image of what we are like when we chase our sin rather than live for God. In this message, Dustin Renz exhorts us through the story of Esau to see God’s blessings as precious and to be fought for, rather than focusing on the things of this earth.